This week, Nolan housesat for his parents while they were in Mexico. For me, I stayed home with the dogs and chickens and did the usual chores. I pulled the couchbed out in the living room and sprawled my books and writings and computer and bags of chips across the flannel sheets and sat in silence, save for the dogs snoring and the rain gutters overflowing.
There's a routine to the way we live now. The way we argue. The way we spend our Sundays. The way I do the chickens and the way I play with the dogs. It's not mechanical, but it is familiar. I like it. I myself am a frenetic ball of stress, so the calmness of monotony is good for me.
And when I am home alone, I don't eat that great. I pick like a bird. I graze on candy and yogurt and forget to eat. I'm too wrapped up in the small luxury of expansive hours of reading to care. And when I wanted to bake this weekend, I did it in the simple way--thrown together with leftovers from the fridge.
Caramel Cherry Upside Down Cake
Ingredients:
- 15 oz frozen cherries
- 1/4 cup caramel sauce
- 10 TB unsalted butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs + 1 egg white
- Zest and Juice of 2 lemons
- 1/2 cup whole milk or buttermilk
- 1/2 TB vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cup AP flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375*F
- Heavily grease and line the bottom of a 12-inch cast iron skillet
- Pour cherries and caramel sauce onto parchment and evenly distribute with a rubber spatula
- In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar
- Add eggs, zest, juice, milk, and vanilla
- Sift together your dry ingredients
- With mixer on low, slowly add in flour mixture a 1/2 cup or so at a time
- Mix on high for one minute
- Pour over top of cherries and caramel
- Bake for 40 minutes. Because of the moisture of the cherries, it may not be done at this time, so keep checking every five minutes until middle is tanned and set
- Allow to cool for about 15 minutes before turning onto a plate
